Chapter 410: Dog-like Philosophy
Faan-
Pop!
My surprise attack failed.
I threw a punch filled with my sense of justice, but I had to retreat due to the sudden twist of time and space.
"What is this?"
I didn't know how such a sudden occurrence was possible without a black hole.
An unprecedented natural disaster broke my expectation of gaining an overwhelming victory through my surprise attack.
[Undefeated]
[Luck]
The divine powers Fugitive Senior possessed probably caused it.
"Haha! My junior's really powerful, as I thought. If not for my [Luck], your surprise attack would've already caused my defeat."
"What's the principle behind it?"
"It's exactly what its name suggests. Now that I've activated my grandfather's power, I can no longer lose. I can just hold on, and I'll win by sheer chance."
"What…"
Fugitive Senior disclosed how his ability worked to me like a third-rate villain, which was amazing in itself since it showed how confident he was in winning.
[Undefeated].
Quite literally, the inability to lose.
It was far more unreasonable and fraudulent than other divine powers.
"I'll put that to the test."
Now that my surprise attack had failed, nothing was stopping me from exerting my full power in earnest!
Mollanstar.
It served as my weapon, but since it hadn't been long since I returned to active duty as the MAX-Class Hero, I didn't wield it myself.
Bluntly speaking, I hadn't mastered it enough to maximize its full potential…
Instead, I imbued it with my surplus divine power.
"Ah, that's right, Fugitive Senior. I'm now the owner of Nucleon."
"I know I ran away, but don't call me Fugitive Senior! I've told you that before!"
"Haha! Fugitive Senior! Fugitive Senior!"
The First Hero created Nucleon in preparation for the escaping Demon Lord Pedonar.
It was great on its own, but in addition to that, I had Mollanstar, which had swallowed eight famous swords.
Holy Sword Automania of the Central Continent.
Holy Sword Haymollan of the Eastern Continent.
Holy Sword Mollanpis of the Western Continent.
Sword Mollancoin of the Southern Continental.
Holy Sword Mollanrod of the Northern Continent.
Holy Demon Blade Swordmaster.
Celestial Runelord Sword.
Elemental Sword Endymion.
Fantasy's best weapons.
The mollanroids' swordsmanship, which easily nullified such a powerful armament, proved out of the question.
No, it also destroyed them several times. I just didn't notice it earlier.
Such was the power of a God!
Humans could never stand it.
Shuuuusshhhh—!
Upon absorbing my divine power to the fullest, my weapon's blade began to rain down from the sky.
"That's…!"
Upon witnessing the inevitable armageddon about to crash down on his planet, Fugitive Senior's movements became faster.
Ting ting ting—
However, his swordsmanship skills had become dull and pathetic, having spent more time holding the breasts and buttocks of women than the hilts of swords.
Regardless, he was still holding on quite well.
The reason was simple.
▷ Race: Chaos Revolutionary Human
▷ Level: 9999+
▷ Job: Hero (Experience 500%)
▷Skills: Divinity GGG, Dark Energy GGG, Swordsmanship GGG, Stamina GGG, Fortitude GGG, Defense GGG, Resistance GGG, Evasion GGG, Immunity GGG, Justice GGG, Love GGG, Friendship GGG, Energy GGG, Incitement GGG, Fabrication GGG, Chaos GGG, Destruction GGG, Oblivion GGG, Immortal GGG…
▷ Status: Blessing, Protection, Saintess,
Holy Sword, Holy Grail, Holy Relic, Storage…
His stats were a feast of GGG-rank skills, which Goddess Parmael gave to defeat Demon Lord Pedonar.
I should take care of that first.
"I'll be confiscating those, senior."
"What?"
"Who do you think is the junior in front of you?"
▷ Race: Chaos Revolutionary Human
▷ Level: 1
▷ Job: Unemployed (Experience: 110%)
▷ Skills: Chaos GGG, Energy GGG
▷ Status: Saintess, Holy Sword, Holy Grail, Holy Relic, Storage…
I couldn't remove his race since he earned it himself rather than receiving it from the system, much like his possessions. I also retrieved Protection and Blessing, but the rest, including Saintess Erdanti, originally belonged to him.
However, aside from that, I retracted all of his levels and skills.
Except for Energy and Chaos.
Those two broke out of my control and completely assimilated with Fugitive Senior.
That would mean he had mastered it perfectly.
That aside…
"Hey! What is this?!"
Having lost all of his convenient skills, including GGG-rank Swordsmanship and evasion, he started panicking.
"Haha! Your junior has succeeded in becoming the president of Fantasy!"
"What I feared has become a reality… Don't attack while we're talking! You don't even adhere to universal basic manners!"
"You can talk as much as you want once you've gone to the afterlife."
Confiscating his stats didn't affect my divine power all that much. I couldn't care less about the additional 50,000 to my 10,000,000,000,000 total amount of divine power.
The same couldn't be said for my senior, however. Upon losing such a measly amplification, his movements became noticeably slower.
He was now no different from being the perfect depiction of a lazy man!
"Did you have to go this far?" His expression became horribly contorted.
"I don't think you have the right to complain, considering you attempted to take my life."
"…"
As I expected, he could no longer block every attack.
Just like how I, having briefly retired, was beaten by myself when I was still on active duty, Fugitive Senior's skills had become far too rusty since all he did was sit on his throne, pursuing politics and harems for quite a long time.
That much was within my predictions.
"… That's strange."
However, despite being weakened by about a hundredfold due to the loss of his abilities, he still managed to hold on desperately.
I knew how that was possible, of course.
Jig— jig— jig—
I wasn't moving as well as I could since earlier. It was almost as if someone was interfering with my will.
Losing focus for even just a moment made me run wild, making it hard for me to control myself.
What was this…?
『A certain innocent goddess says it's a secret.』
『A certain restless demonic god disagrees.』
『A certain restless demonic god says it's because of his genes.』
『A certain innocent goddess is proud.』
『A certain restless demonic god whistles and throws a durian.』
『A certain innocent goddess covers her face with her pillow.』
… Genetics?
The [Luck] that Fugitive Senior spoke of seemed to mean this.
Swish, swish, swish—
Indeed, he was avoiding all the Mollanstars falling from the sky with a miracle-like coincidence.
Was that possible?
"You can't keep up that forever, can you?"
However…
Fugitive Senior's movements, which I couldn't even see anymore since he was buried amid the storm of Mollanstars, gradually improved.
His skills were developing so blatantly it was impossible not to notice.
"Haaaaa…!"
Ting ting ting—
He blocked all of the blades raining from above with a Holy Sword covered in so many cumbersome decorations it looked like a formal dress.
Eventually, he even gained the opportunity to launch an attack against me.
"Huh!"
He didn't act like Fugitive Senior anymore.
God's Apostle.
As soon as he utilized that position, he became a completely different annoying monster.
Or was he just a combat genius?
Like Alex, he might be the kind that grew stronger when risking their lives in fierce battles.
Either way…
I stopped attacking, having no desire to become the instructor that developed Fugitive Senior's skills.
Rather, I needed to find a definite way to end this farce swiftly.
As I looked for it, I decided to refrain from launching meaningless attacks.
"Whew… Like I said, Junior, you can never defeat me for as long as I have this divine power. Not only Demon Lord Pedonar, but many other gods looked down on me and challenged me, but they all suffered a devastating defeat."
Siiiiih…
The small wounds on his body healed quickly, most likely reaching that level without the system's skill assistance.
He grew stronger fighting against me.
"That ridiculous growth of yours reminds me of novels' protagonists."
I had no intention of arguing with Fugitive Senior, but now it seemed I had no choice but to find a clue or a breakthrough using social methods.
I still had plenty of energy, but what if, and only if, he survived my onslaught and evolved rapidly in the process?
I would have no countermeasures against him then.
It was like dealing with cockroaches that were immune to pesticides…
"This is my lineage."
"Awesome."
"My junior might have felt offended or indolent by my harem, but I take pride in it. It's the only existence I earned through hard work."
"Effort?"
"Yes. Training like everyone else is meaningless to me, who finds putting my skills into practice once far more beneficial than training a hundred times. Such long periods can be used better for other, more pressing matters.
"It's the opposite for you."
As he said, using skills in real-life situations was indeed better than training, although perhaps not by a hundred folds.
Still, to commit to a battle that could potentially lead to one's death, they had to prepare themselves through training first. Otherwise, they'd be easy to kill.
"I won't die."
"Ah…"
He truly was the main character of a novel!
He even fought with the confidence that he could never be killed.
Reckless actions and challenges were nothing more than a routine for him, considering his safety would never be compromised.
The difference such a concept could bring was immense.
For example, in a role-playing game, a hero character could thoughtlessly challenge a dangerous dungeon since they would be resurrected even if they died.
But what if the said character were to be deleted upon death?
Their player would never try to do anything extremely dangerous until they were thoroughly prepared.
"I'll be honest. For me, adventure is the journey of finding a new woman."
『A certain restless demonic god gives a thumbs up.』
『A certain innocent goddess grows very uncomfortable.』
The two deities showed opposing reactions to Fugitive Senior's absurd declaration.
"What's that?"
"Undefeated and Luck don't even help me with dating. There are quite a few that I can achieve through hard work, but what gives me the greatest sense of accomplishment is love."
"Huh…"
That was such terrible reasoning.
Or was I just envious?
"A beauty with a fiance, a beauty with a husband, a beauty who has a crush on another man, a beauty who is in love. I had challenged and conquered every type of woman out there."
"Doesn't that just make you an asshole?"
『A certain innocent goddess who nods in agreement.』
『A certain restless demonic god presses sympathy.』
… They should just be quiet. Even without their ruckus, I already felt like my head was going to explode due to Fugitive Senior.
The person I thought would end as easily as an extra was actually fated to be the main character. Even hearing his dog-like philosophy made me very upset.
"I don't need you to understand."
"That is truly heroic."
True Heroes didn't compromise with injustice!
He perceived righteousness a little differently, but I thought it was okay to acknowledge one's perseverance.
"You made a mistake, Junior."
"What do you mean?"
"I still haven't shown you my true power. Master Carrot always told me to hide 90% of my full strength, after all."
"Master Carrot?"
"The one who taught me swordsmanship before I was kidnapped into the Fantasy dimension. He can cut through the universe with 314 trillion swordsmanships using only a carrot."
"…"
According to Fugitive Senior's words, he was most likely a sword god.
"You stole my stats, one of the fruits of my efforts. Except for my love, you turned what little remained of the possession I gained through hard work into a blank slate. I was aiming for your life anyway, but you'll have to pay the price for the emptiness I feel here."
Fugitive Senior growled like a cornered and injured beast.
Indeed…
He suddenly began to speak of love and what I did, but the bottom line of his speech was that he was enraged because I confiscated the skills he gained through extraneous efforts.
"So, what are you going to do about it?"
"I'm not satisfied with being undefeated. I will destroy and take everything away from you like what I did to the countless planets I conquered for women."
"How do you plan on winning?"
I was genuinely curious.
I had no doubts that his divine power, which prevented him from losing, was fraudulent, but winning was an entirely different matter.
He had no power to defeat me.
"I'll show you the results of my efforts."
Click!
He snapped his fingers.
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
One after another, several beautiful women dressed in lingerie appeared behind him.
Cheerleading squad?
I doubted it.
They clearly had weapons in their hands.
"..."
First Saintess Erdanti was among his summons. Fugitive Senior didn't love them, but he spared no effort in collecting them anyway.
"If you thought I wouldn't kill women, you're making a huge mistake."
"Kill them if you can, then. I haven't been taking them seriously for a while now, but it's because of these female bodyguards that it's become easier for me to command my people."
He was really insane!
But I didn't mind.
Standing in such a position of 'evil,' he made it easier for me to fulfill my duty as a Hero.
"Then let me show you the results of my efforts as well."
『A certain righteous divine being shows his righteous smile.』
『A certain righteous divine being spreads his wings.』
Unfortunately, my Providence had a condition for activation.
Justice.
However, there was no doubt about it.
The time had come for justice to stand tall on this fallen star with tears of repentance.